I’m not going to recap the manga I read this month due to a lack of screenshots that I have for them, but rest assured that I am planning a sort-of compilation post at the end of the season, including my highlights and overall impressions. In the meantime we go further with the Summer season, which really showed itself as a season of creativity. I’m watching a bit less than usual with only 17 series at the same time, but seriously, with the exception of Tari Tari, Saint Seiya and perhaps Rinne no Lagrange, all these series here stand out with their imagination and that’s a much, much higher share than usual. Especially considering how next season will be incredibly different: Fall 2012 will really be about quantity, with a lot of series that look similar to each other instead.

#17 (14) – Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon – (7.9/10) – Horizon’s selling point still is its boundless creativity, combined with bizarre politics with strange premises. That part is still rock-solid. I have a few issues with the cast though: at this point in the story they should be getting more interesting and lively with development… but I’m still not really noticing anything here, and to be honest this drags the show down a bit for me.#16 (15) – Tari Tari – (8/10) – Tari Tari is a well done drama series. It’s nothing special, and a bit forced in the way that it jumps from character to character to show their development and story, but these stories do their job to flesh them out.#15 (20) – Phi Brain – (8/10) – After having my suspense of disbelief broken for a few months, I’m back to enjoying Phi Brain again as it heads into its conclusion as it finally brings in some good character-development and the themes of saving the villains finally get somewhere. The sequel definitely had some balancing issues, but I’m glad that it managed to come together.#14 (18) – Saint Seiya Omega – (8.1/10) – Whoa, this show has become much better this month! After long string sof rather boring fights, they are getting much more exciting now that the sakes are getting higher. I alos like how this show keeps track of its characters, and how it’s willing to go against “the party must stick together”-syndrome that a lot of adventure series have.#13 (16) – Sword Art Online – (8.1/10) – Ah, Sword Art Online: brilliant setting, great acting from the main cast… but the main cast definitely needs some better writing to make them more interesting because at the moment this show screams a bit of wasted potential for focusing too much on Kirito meeting cute girls. Show some variety dammit!#12 (10) – Moyashimon – (8.25/10)
Moyashimon had a string of episodes in which it lost its magic. The school festival arc was dull and for a while I just missed the chemistry between the characters that made me originally like the show. Thankfully this has returned again in the recent episodes, in which the characters were really enjoyable to watch again.

#11 (12) – Uta Koi – (8.25/10)
If I had one criticism for Uta Koi, then it is the animation. I get that it’s really hard to animate character-designs of this scale, and the budget for this series definitely is low, but the still frames do stand out a little too much and interfere a bit with bringing the characters to life. It’s a good thing that the stories it tells are still just wonderful. There is a ton of historical background and detail in this series, and the balance is just perfect: no character is overexposed, yet there are a few characters who get a bit of extra time to show how they changed over the years. And yes, episode 06 was awesome.

#10 (11) – Rinne no Lagrange – (8.25/10)
This show is building up to something, I can feel it. In the meantime there is random comic relief and time to flesh out the characters some more. At this point the cast of Rinne no Lagrange has definitely matured and changed. Now all that’s left is to use this.

#9 (13) – Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita – (8.25/10)
Jinrui has improved nicely, in the way that the cast has become much more likable and the stories more interesting. This month also showed that the order of the arcs is completely random, which makes it also a challenge to puzzle together the real sequence of events. The setting with the fairies also is as strong as last month.

#8 (8) – Kokoro Connect – (8.4/10)
Kokoro Connect’s biggest flaw is that it sometimes focuses a bit too much on its drama, making it a bit one-sided. Said drama however, is really, really good and really aims to delve deep into the different characters. The characters clash wonderfully together.

#7 (6) – Shirokuma Cafe – (8.4/10)
While hilarious, this wasn’t the best month for Shirokuma Cafe. It had a few episodes which were too much about panda trolling, and the best moments weren’t as utterly hilarious as some of the earlier episodes. Still, there was enough to like, ranging from Polar Bear’s antics to the whole affair around Penko.

#6 (7) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8.5/10)
It’s unbelievable, but I’m only liking this series more as it goes on. It’s already in its third season, and it still feels fresh despite all of the content it puts in, and the jokes that keep coming are all new and original. I hardly see anyone mention or talk about this series, but I really look forward to watch it every week.

#5 (5) – Hunter X Hunter – (8.6/10)
Oh yes! With this month, Hunter X Hunter has really set itself apart from the rest of the shounen series. The Yorkshin arc has finally fully started and it’s great to see Kurapika in the spotlight. It’s great to see people actually working on jobs and acting that way.

#4 (4) – Hyouka – (8.6/10)
This month featured the conclusion for the school festival arc, and I have to say that Hyouka surpassed itself there, making the best with its focus on mundane mysteries. The stories that followed were also really good, making great use of the character-development that has been established at this point.

#3 (3) – Eureka Seven Ao – (8.75/10)
This show is confusing, to the point where I often find myself forgetting important plot points of episodes ago, but I kindof like that about this series and how it doesn’t want to hold your hand along the way. It also still has the best action of the season and the characters still keep this one going really strong.

#2 (1) – Uchuu Kyoudai – (9.1/10)
The only fault of this show is that sometimes, it is paced a bit too slowly. But heck, with how incredible the cast of characters has become, I really don’t mind that at all. The conclusion of the third round worked incredibly well and managed to bring the entire cast together, only ending with the message that we haven’t even started yet.

#1 (2) – Natsuyuki Rendezvous – (9.1/10)
This show knows what it is. This month really showed that it makes perfect use of its length of only 11 episodes with how much focus it puts on just one plot twist. This was wonderfully acted once again, and it already had some amazing pay-off as of episode 09. Heck, at this point I’m pretty certain that this will be somewhere in my top 2 of 2012.

Now this is really how you do a dramatic climax. There was so much emotion in it, yet it was wonderfully restrained. The acting here was just brilliant. Everything in this episode was just leading up to that one moment in which Rokka would realize that for some reason Atsushi is back in Hazuki’s body, and they did so brilliantly.

The way they built it up also was amazing. Whilst Rokka was catching up to Atsushi (which is believable considering his mind has no affinity with being fast in any way), this episode kept showing flashbacks of the most memorable moments that the two of them shared together, which this series very nicely saved specifically for just this moment (now that I mention it: we never saw the flashback of the actual moment in which Atsushi died, right? That’s a wonderful touch right there for this series).

Beyond that I also really want to applaud the dialogue for this episode: that was some really well written stuff, miles away from the usual cliches. It felt fresh and captured the characters perfectly in how it described them. It also flowed so well with the actual animation. This episode didn’t feel like “okay, and now we have a bit of exposition”, but all the scenes flowed into each other, and did so incredibly smoothly. Dogakobo, where have you been hiding this talent for all this time?Rating:7/8 (Fantastic)

This episode had something: chemistry. It’s the kind of chemistry that drew me into the second season of Moyashimon in the first place, and that had been unfortunately absent for a string of three or four episodes. I’m glad to see it back again.

It’s hard to describe what made this episode work, but the variety had a lot to do with it, how everyone split up in three groups that all did their own stuff, and how whimsical this all happened. There was one part romance, one part comedy and one part character-study and they went togehter really well. The animators also were quite good with their camera angles this week, which also really helped in bringing the cast alive.

I feel that this episode was really needed to keep this show from getting stale. The story from the blond girl about inheriting her family’s business: it was different from the usual things. You know, parents pushing their businesses down onto their children without much more detail. The story of her father and how her entire family is involved: I like that. Especially after watching so many episodes in which Haruka’s story was nothing really more than “girl gets forced to marry against her will”. That also got a bit more detail. It still is a bit stale compared to the wine girl, but at the very least it isn’t so damn cliched anymore.Rating:5/8 (Great)

Sei Shonagon again, this time with the focus on her actual romance. This definitely was an episode for dialogue, because the two of them loved making quibs to each other and there were a lot of tongues in cheeks this week, along with nice historical details like how hats played such an important role in those days.

A difference between this episode was that it wasn’t necessarily about the constraining environment in which people lived back then, but instead it showed a different side of how things went on for the nobles and poets of those days. Sei Shonagon is a woman who has enough influence over people to make a difference.

Overall, Uta Koi has painted this nice picture of who the authors of the 100 poems were. It doesn’t stray too long on one of them, but it also picks a few of them to give a bit more attention than the others. Whether it’s the most exciting show though… that is unfortunately not the case. The fact remains that the acting still is quite wooden (although this episode wasn’t the worst example of that).Rating:4.5/8 (Good)

Once again a really nice standalone episode for Hyouka, so close to the end. I have to say: I’m really enjoying these episodes more compared to the individual episodes of the first half of the series. It’s not just because we now know the characters and that this show is now able to use this in its storytelling (most notably the interplay between Oreki and Chitanda), but the mysteries themselves also have gotten more interesting. I relaly liked the idea of piecing a story together from a random strange announcement over the school intercom.

This was just two people sitting in a room, trying to piece together something that happened, and I like episodes like this, especially considering how much detail the writers managed to put into it and how everything just started with one simple sentence: Oreki picked apart every single detail of it in order to get to his conclusion. Satoshi and Ibara were completely absent, so this was just about Oreki and Chitanda.

Now, I wouldn’t actually mind if the show ended on random episodes like these, or even a short arc of three episodes. In fact, it’s great for the variety in this series to play with the set-up like this, especially after the long school festival arc. Having a series in which the arcs are all the same length does get a bit boring, but here they are able to switch things up, and especially this episode was significantly different from the others. That’s great! Yay for variety!Rating:5.5/8 (Excellent)

This show is building up to something. This episode however, decided to ignore that for some good old-fashioned character-building. It wasn’t even a calm before the storm, but rather an episodic story that was meant to push the characters a bit further before the climax starts.

So yeah, the student council wants to take away the club room for the jersey club. To avoid that Madoka needs to find an extra member. They find one, but at the end of the episode that member already quit and the clubroom issues stopped being a problem. The new character is also completely insignificant to the story, so the real point of this episode was everything in between.

Aside from fleshing out, what I think was the most important here was the meaning of the Jersey club to Madoka and Youko (who by the way has a way too small part in this second season): how the club was formed, and how they look at it today. It’s a neat piece of character development for both of them.

As for the main storyline, the only thing that was revealed was that that one guy who has been suspicious for the entire series has something to do with it and has been alive for 20000 years now. I’m still not seeing how it’s going to relate back to the themes of the rest of this series though, but this episode was not bothered by that. And in the meantime, the new girl was annoying but had her charms when she revealed her intentions, and it was fun to see Madoka fly off.Rating:5/8 (Great)

You know, this was actually very adorable. In this episode Watashi gets sent to some random island along with a truck full of fairies in order to “cultivate” it. A few episodes ago it was outlined that the more fairies there were, the more luck you have. This episode showed that you can also overdo it a bit.

The result is an entire civilization being built consisting out of all sorts of monuments, only to collapse again due to a lack of resources. The whole process was quite interesting; again lots of sweets were involved, but I also liked how the fairies basically invented their own foods on a whim. The different buildings and clothing were quite imaginative.

Also, the episode order of this is completely random: this episode showed Assistant again, and acted as if he had been there for ages. Ideally speaking, I’d have liked it if the creators emphasized this random order a bit more. I mean, at this point there are only two stories that really made use of this: the story about her getting her hair cut, and the story of meeting Assistant. Other than that, I noticed that things that happen in one episode are never mentioned in the other again. Whether it prevents the series from coming together or not… I can’t say that yet at this point.

Also, why is grandfather always messing with a gun during the introductions?Rating:5/8 (Great)

So, the main storyline has begun. But does that also mean that this show has gotten better? Well, slightly.

I had my problems with this episode, but what I liked about it was that it further developed the relationship between Kirito and Asuna. It’s actually good that they spend a bit of quality time together, and this was done better than with the other girls Kirito met so far, on top of just being good build-up.

However, the one who is responsible for translating the novel storyline into the anime storyline needs to pay more attention to detail. I feel like this episode left out some key parts in understanding the characters and a few things in this episode didn’t make any sense because some key parts have never been shown. They’re small bits of details, but take for example the point at which Kirito enters Asuna’s house and is impressed with how expensive this is.

Now, I’m actually very interested in the story behind this, because it doesn’t really make sense from the perspective of an MMORPG: Kirito solos bosses and is constantly improving himself. Any loot or money he takes is something he gets to keep for himself. And knowing MMORPGs and boss drops, he can probably get quite a bit of money by just selling all of the rare high-level stuff he finds that is inaccessible to the people of lower level. Asuna and her guild meanwhile may kill more monsters together, but I do doubt whether they kill more monsters per person than what Kirito does. So how do they make money? Escorts? Taking on paid jobs from lower level members?

I also have a few complaints about how Kirito’s relationship with Asuna was handled. The scene with that one night was just cheap. It already started off clichéd with that random boob-grab, but even then: he just randomly starts acting possessive, without giving us the chance to see why he does this, especially considering how this guy is probably amongst the oldest people in the game, they just blow it off as stress, but to me this just feels like another one of those “punk”-scenes. You know, the scene where the cute girl is attacked by punks and has to be saved by the lead character for a bit of drama? I feel that the creators are actually doing a pretty good job on the acting for Kirito and Asuna, but this guy was really badly portrayed.

On a side-note: I just realized something: next season, A-1 Pictures will be likely working on six different shows at the same time: Fairy Tail, SAO, Uchuu Kyoudai, Gyrozetter, Magi and From the new World. That’ll be interesting to see if they can handle it.Rating:4.5/8 (Good)

So, this series definitely has this tendency to come with back-stories right from out of nowhere. This episode treated us to the identity of the father of Truth. On top of the nature of the world that the series takes place in: we’re dealing with a parallel universe. Basically this show is what would happen if earth would be invaded by the Scab Coral: it would still thrive, but not as much as we do now. So wait, are the villains in this series trying to move the plot into the current earth?

What’s interesting is how Goldilocks isn’t dead, but instead they never got enlisted. And you know what? I wonder what happened to Bruno in this timeline then: is he still working for Generation Blue, but in a different division or something? Will we actually see him again? What’s also interesting is how Ao nearly loses himself near the end of this episode, leading to quite an interesting cliff-hanger where people actually realize that he is too dangerous with that dimension-altering gun of his. Is that really going to be it, though, or did this episode fail to mention something?

And then there are the characters in this episode who just started to act weird. Elena Peoples… didn’t she try to shoot down the Nirvash a bunch of episodes ago? This episode she apparently decided to try a completely different tactic, but what she has in mind still is a complete mystery. The trio of Gazelle, Pippo and Juno also were different from usual. Juno was in his element when he started explaining things, so that one is logical, but what about Gazelle being so blunt? And has Pippo always been this stupid? The most notable change however was Georg, who sometimes got taken over by a new voice. That one definitely is a plot point that the next episodes will touch upon.Rating:5.5/8 (Excellent)

When it was revealed that Atsushi could move objects, I did find myself thinking “now what?” Well, the creators answered that question brilliantly, and at this point it has become clear that the main plot of this show is all about that body takeover, and the conclusion of this series will very likely also be the point where this will get resolved, and no sooner. This episode was meant to build up for that, and what brilliant build-up it was!

Clearly something happened between Atsushi and Rokka that involves mountains. The first half focused on this from Rokka’s perspective as she tried to puzzle what on earth was going on, and what I really loved was how well her acting was when she called up Hazuki. Talk about restraint! It said so much with so little dialogue!

The second half of the episode then moved over to Hazuki as he realized that there was a slight danger that he didn’t anticipate to the body swapping: not being able to return, with as the highlight that part that had the best track of the soundtrack of this series (the one with the bass-like guitar and piano: a simple yet wonderful combination).Rating:5.5/8 (Excellent)

AidanAK47
@Anon530022, I am not going to deny being arrogant. That's just my nature. But you are going to have to explain how wanting a show to have a genuine gay romance is homophobic? Kinda missing the logical steps on that jump. Anyway you being gay is irrelevant as I have a bisexual friend who says the romance isn't realistic in the slightest.

Anonymous530636
I love basically any sports/romance anime so Yuri should be straight up my alley, but instead it just fails at both, mainly the sports part since it does try to focus on fanservice of the relationship between Victor and Yuri. I don't feel like the relationship between the two of them is real whether it's romantic or not. They keep having characters voice their thoughts about each other but no

Anonymous530636
Hi random long-time psgels reader, personally I think Yuri on Ice has kind of lost on trying to be a real romance and a real sports anime. It's characters are pretty weak and combing from someone that actually reads BL manga, I agree that their overt level of fanservice like focusing on the two of their lips and the rings, etc doesn't match their level of outright talking about shit.

Lenlo
Age gap isnt that big, and its not homophobic or arrogant to say a show isnt selling an aspect of itself well in his opinion. Lastly, romance for every person is different, so dont expect him to share your experiences/views on it.

Anonymous529997
Also, how Viktor's choice to become Yuuri's coach might have been initiated by not just Yuuri's skating, but Yuuri himself.

Anonymous529997
@Mario: I agree on the strip dance. Like, holy crap. But overall, I really like how episode 10 reframed the series from Viktor's perspective. Like, at first the whole commemorative photo thing made him seem like a jerk, but now we get to see that he had actually had a great time with Yuuri and was probably being genuine about it...

Anonymous530022
You just want them to identify themselves. You feel as if it's your right to know that they are gay. Well it isn't. It is their life, their story. You are being homophobic. You are being close minded. You are being arrogant. You are, indeed, very arrogant.

Anonymous530022
It is a mixture of admiration and lust and because it is hard to distinguish between the two it is difficult to express your feelings directly or even admit it to yourself.

Anonymous530022
As a gay man I attest that this is how romance works, ESPECIALLY when there is an age and experience gap.

Anonymous530022
This shows romance is actually reaistic, but you are still rejecting it. Yuri literally said he had found love. He said neither way who it's directed towards yet you are SO INSISTENT that it is towards skating. in the episode Victor even expressed admiration to Yuri's own dispositions beyond skating. He clearly was 'watching' him.

AidanAK47
If they planned to take such a hands off approach to romance then it would be better if they just focused on the skating. But well then the fujoshi's wouldn't be buying the Blu-rays now would they?

Lenlo
I can understand that, thats a problem I have with alot of modern romance's. Im just not seeing the backing off that happens in those romances. They just seem to raise it more and more in Yuri, without ever crossing the line, rather than toeing it then backing off.

AidanAK47
@Lenlo, To me I find it aggravating. They go so far to portray them as gay yet when it comes to the final say they keep backing off. Hey I want to be more that friends...just kidding! Hey I love you...just kidding! Hey lets get married...just kidding! It like how harems constantly tease the main getting together with each girl when by shows end you know he's not going to get with anyone.

SuperMario
@lenl: agree. I'm still enjoying the hell of the show. A bit out of the blues thou when it comes to the strip dance (they shoulve planted that before), but it's a joy to watch every week

Lenlo
Eh. As I said, I think its above bait below romance. Either way im enjoying it and thats the important part.

SuperMario
For me they're just too much at the moments but unless they confirm it, nothing changes.

Kaiser Eoghan
Y'know I kind of wish Rorico would just come out and directly say he feels too old for most anime, its not really surprising a man in his 60s would be so cranky when it comes to this stuff.

SuperMario
@lenlo: I think it's more about statements. Yes, we understand the context of rings and engagements but unless they confirm it, nothing set in stones. And "hinting" is what they love to do, you can see just by the 2 shows I've coverage myself: Sound Eupho (Reina & Kumiko), Flip Flappers (Papika & Cocona) and people saying those same underlining context things.

Lenlo
I think its beyond baiting, below full blown romance at this point myself.

Lenlo
Does a show have to confirm and say "They kissed" to make it true? Seems along the same lines as "Fade to black" for sex. Then theres the ED which also made the start of the show much more interesting, as with this ED not its Victor that was jilted at the airport, when Yuri ran away.

Lenlo
See, I dont understand why they have to come out and say "We are gay" for you to accept its an actual romance. I dont see how this is baiting anymore either, as the rings and the "Engagement" seem pretty clear to me. Also, without knowing the current climate on the matter in Japan, this could be the clearest they are allowed to make it, while still fully intending for it to be a real romance.

AidanAK47
@Anon1, Agreed. I said before that I would like to be proven wrong on this but this series doesn't seem to have done that yet. I really will admit I am wrong to Anon2 if it does provide proof but it would need to be far more substantial than this.@Anon2, Girl, boy, whatever.

Anonymous529660
@Aidan: I think the only thing from that scene that hints at actual romance would be where Viktor says something along the lines of a lot of other people got their L words from Yuuri, which he had earlier stated are "Love" and "Life." Honestly, even this is pushing it though, but the fact that he said it like that suggests that both he and Yuri got "those words" from Yuuri.

AidanAK47
Way I saw that scene was the guy saying "Fuck you, you think Yuri is so great. Well I am gonna be better than Yuri. Just you wait and see" and then Victor remarking on how Yuri awoke his competitive spirit. Aka his love for Skating.

SuperMario
@Kaiser: Although I like both, I always prefer impressionism better. Expressionism for me tend to be a bit overwhelming and a bit subjectively. But mind you Flip Flappers still has moments of Expressionist as well (Episode 6: Irochan's parents)

AidanAK47
@Anon, I got the context you saw fine. About him getting mad over the "Good luck charm". You are being baited girl, hook, line and sinker.

Anonymous529618
You are missing context. You don't know anything. You don't even know why Yuri was mad do you? Why the fuck would he be mad about loving skating.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: I bring up the impressionism vs expressionism thing because I feel that the impressionistic aspects of say a Tarkovsky film, Malick film and flippflappers feel superior to me over expressionistic style because its more emotionally satisfying while ALSO being athmospheric, Whereas expressinistic visuals are ONLY atmospheric.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: Flippflappers has now reached a level where I feel the impressionism has gone beyond simply visual immersive in a way that makes us part of its world and has become more emotional.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: You mention impressionism in your review of flipflappers, in general do you feel on a visual level you respond more strongly to expressionism or impressionism?

SuperMario
I watched the whole thing so I know that in this episode, except the time they're giving rings to each other (in the name of "good luck charm") and Victor somewhat pump Yuri up for the Gold medal by Not Denying it; they still haven't admitted anything.

AidanAK47
Oh I think I see it now. Yeah this is nothing mate. The conversation was about skating from begining to end and Victor mentioned that he wasn't the only one to get his "L words" from Yuri. Pretty clear he means how Yuri helped Yurio awaken a love for Skating. Romantic love doesn't really make sense within the context. But yeah, they admitted nothing.

AidanAK47
Quite frankly if they don't have the balls to admit they are gay by this point they are just not going to.

AidanAK47
Time stamp means the point in the episode he actually said it. Like 18 minutes 20 seconds in or something. You should be able to get one. But maybe you can't find it either. Only thing I found Was about yuri teaching victor through his life and love but that's ambiguous enough to refer to his love for skating.

Masky
So wait, is that same anon repeating himself or two different anons where second one copy pasted part of first one's post

Anonymous528870
They literally admitted a love triangle between the three main characters. You're in denial.

Anonymous528815
Are you kidding? This episode they outright admitted a love triangle between the three main characters. You're in denial.

AidanAK47
I actually was going to admit that I was wrong when I heard about the "Kiss" and gladly do so. But when I watched the scene in question it's clear what I said is still correct. They will dance around it, sure. But never outright confirm it.

AidanAK47
@Anon, discussed this before when the "Kiss" happened. Despite the series hinting it, and hinting it hard, it still hasn't outright confirmed it. While I am sure it is head canon to the watchers, the series itself is just queer baiting.

SuperMario
Okay... Just watched this week's Yuri on Ice. Haha things got weird again... and they so nailed Barcelona here, I recognized most of the places.

SuperMario
@anon527634: actually about that, I am a bit let down that after that "supposed kiss" in episode 7, no one in the series mentioned it again. Just like that "kiss" never happened.

Anonymous527534
So when is Aidan going to publicly admit he was wrong about the Yuri romance?

SuperMario
I'm also planning to catch BBK/BRK before the year end soon. I'm also find that series entertaining despite its obvious flaws

Kaiser Eoghan
But come to think of it, I do know what its like to enjoy something admittedly flawed, the first season of utawerumono was like that for me, I have nothing but criticism of it in all aspects but yet ended up being one of those things I somehow enjoyed watching.

AidanAK47
I wonder if anyone here is still watching Bubuki Buranki? It's weird but despite how deeply flawed it is I find it fairly enjoyable. Though that fantastic soundtrack certainly helps.

AidanAK47
@Anon, Oh they announced a Sonic movie too. Apparently it's a mix of live action and animation.

Anonymous525559
I am suprised SEGA didn't announce an Sonic movie and went with games like Altered Beast and Crazy Taxi, they probably could have just ripped off one story from the Archie Sonic comics and make an movie based on that, preferably the story where Sonic travels in the multiverse to fight an super powerful Sigma alongside Classic Megaman and Megaman X,Steet Fighter cast,Breath of Fire 3 cast and more

AidanAK47
@Anon, A parody Grindhouse film actually could work. I consider Overkill the best of House of the dead. Thing is there actually is already a house of the dead movie so this would be their second attempt. The first attempt...lets just say it didn't work out.

Anonymous523336
And House Of The Dead: Overkill is probably the best game in the franchise to adapt, i mean, it has Isaac Washington in it and dude's awesome.

Anonymous523336
None of those games have much of a story, but at least House Of The Dead could make for an entertaining silly movie, i mean House Of The Dead: Overkill is freaking awesome and has silly cutscenes at the start and end of every level.

Kaiser Eoghan
Archer I simply lost track of and it ended up getting to long to catch up on it.

Kaiser Eoghan
Relatively old news, although I've been joking with friends about what if scenarios for a streets of rage film. I know there is a cg/live action hybrid sonic film in the works. I kind of want to think a shinobi or streets of rage film could work if they went full on 70s style action film.

AidanAK47
None of these games are played for the story. You would be better off just making a new game for them instead of a movie.

AidanAK47
I haven't even seen Archer. On another note SEGA is planning a bunch of live action movies of their franchises and boy do they all sound like a horrible idea. Shinobi, Golden Axe, Virtua Fighter, The House of the Dead, Crazy Taxi, Streets of rage and Altered Beast.

SuperMario
@Anon522497: hmm, I found Moonbeam City underwhelmed and for Archer up until their last season I actually got a bit tired of the cast (couldn't finish that season 7)

Anonymous522497
If i wanted Archer i would just watch Archer or Moonbeam City like everyone else.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: That'd be the compiliation film. I watched that based on hearing that the film version trimmed back on the shows weaker moments.

SuperMario
@Kaiser: was it the compilation film or the series itself? That scene is the highlight of that first season. I'm always a fan of KyoAni so it's very natural that I enjoy this series a whole lot.

Kaiser Eoghan
I watched the first season of sound euphonium, not much to say for it other than I liked the teacher guy and the scene where the black haired girl tells the main character that she thinks shes hiding behind a mask. Animation was as expected of kyoani good. All of those emotion shots though and some of the melodrama...

Lenlo
Looks like an Epee. The large bell guard, the fact that they are focusing on thrusting attacks instead of slashing (mostly). Fencing is alot of fun. Be prepared for some bruises though, as some people put their full body weight behind their thrusts.

SuperMario
@Lenlo: the more you described the more I found fencing interesting. I might take a look around my town to see if we have Fencing here (the curse of living in a small town).

Lenlo
Blades are slightly different, yes, but mostly just in their guard and how much they bend. Sabers bend easily, Epee's not so much. Surprisingly Epee is the slowest, because people tend to be more careful. Saber is actually the most aggressive of the blades, atleast at my skill level

AidanAK47
That's all they had to do. Just stay inside and let it pass. But for some weird reason they just keep panicking over nothing.As far as time/alternate world stuff goes this was ridiculously underwhelming. Just finished another movie called triangle and now that's how you do Time travel mindfuckery.

AidanAK47
@Mario, I am not fond of movies where people make stupid decisions for no good reason. For example:"We should just stay inside""No, staying inside isn't realistic"WHY IN THE HOLY HELL ISN'T IT REALISTIC.

SuperMario
Showed that movie to a bunch of friends last year and I remembered one of the girl just shut off the movie after 15'

SuperMario
@Aidan: too bad. I found Cohenrent really funny and entertaining. Some of their twists are stupid but I was actually invested in much of their characters. Maybe because I always love movies about a bunch of characters in an isolated setting

SuperMario
@Lenlo: sounds like Epee is the most "all-out-attack" and aggressive one. Their blades are different as well I assume?

AidanAK47
Just watched a movie called coherence and man, what a bunch a pseudo-intellectual garbage that was.

Lenlo
For Right of Way, its basically Person A attacks, Person B parries, Person A hits, Person B hits, Person B gets the point because they took right of way with the parry. Saber and Foil both have that, but Epee does not. Epee is simply "Whoever hits the opponent first, doesnt matter where, whole body is target area"

Lenlo
Theres Saber, Foil and Epee. The main difference is this thing called right of way, but there are other smaller ones like how Saber can hit with the edge and Epee is allowed to hit the entire body, instead of just the chest like Foil

SuperMario
For news, Blood Blockade Battlefront getting second season next year. As it was one of my favorite last year I'm really lokking forward to this second season

SuperMario
@Lenlo: that sounds great. From what I know from fencing there are 3 different types of blade right? So what are the differences between them? (Fencing 101 here)

Kaiser Eoghan
Although a fantasy sports thing could also generate interest, such as combining sports together to create something totally new.

Lenlo
@SuperMario, Fencing was great. Favorite sport ever and it helped me stay in shape in College. I find Epee to be the best blade, mostly cause I fenced it, but its a very intense 3 minutes. Unlike sports like Soccer and such which is alot of sustained running, Fencing is 3 minutes of Dont-Stop-Moving then wait till next match. Gets really fun once you figure out your own style.

SuperMario
haha, I wouldn't mind either if each episode focus on a single sport/ character/ country. Or even the positive aspects like role models, sports inspirations and stuffs

Kaiser Eoghan
And it would be a good excuse to have characters of multiple backgrounds included too.

Kaiser Eoghan
Could be an 13 episode ova series with 48 minute episodes, and if its to be an ensemble character drama you could have 10 minutes to a each character (the ones being focused on in that episode) in each episode.

Kaiser Eoghan
Ah yes, aswell as cheating it could also get into "stage parenting", "abuse", "Disabilities" and also the general politics of sports, the backroom stuff.

SuperMario
I'll be the first in line if that olympic anime ever come out. Could be interesting to see the interactions between athletes in different sports, and then fans/athletes/coaches relationship, then the gold rush, doping... So much to talk around to

Kaiser Eoghan
I don't think theres ever been a manga about hurling either. Hey heres an idea, someone do an ensemble drama anime that deals with the olympics, fit in multiple sports that way.

SuperMario
Personally I find Australian football much more exciting than rugby. Or crickets.

SuperMario
@Kaiser: ha! Interesting that you mentioned Gaelic football, because in Aus we have AFL (Australian Football League), that really similars to Gealic Football to the point sometimes we have the 2 national teams compete each other with modified rules

SuperMario
Hey, fencing is actually really cool. How did you like it Lenlo?

SuperMario
You have your point there Topgavin, as I clearly remember many instances where players' legs, backs or even necks got snapped during rugby's tackles. But in regards to Rugby I never really care about it. That and car racing

Lenlo
Its mostly the type of injuries you get that differ I think. Football you get concussions and broken bones and such, while in Rugby you probably get alot of bruises and cuts. Granted I have played neither, I was a Soccer man in highschool and fencing in College

Lenlo
American football has alot of rules, and really is just a bunch of millionaires running around chasing a ball. Rugby however, as Topgavin said, has no pads so when you get hit you get hit HARD

AidanAK47
I never ceases to surprise me just how high and mighty visual novel fans can be over Mosaics present in localized games. I mean they are literally complaining about not seeing genitalia yet the way they phrase it, it's like they are fighting against great injustice. If these VNs were Nukige they might have a point but in most cases the sex scenes in question are pointless and shoehorned in.

Topgavin
@Mario Rugby is more extreme *because* it has no protective gear. No hiding behind helmets and cushioned shoulder pads when ya get bowled over.

SuperMario
@Lenlo: I'm no expert but isn't American football a variation of Rugby? And I believe american football is more extreme, considering they have to wear helmets, protection gears and all that

Lenlo
I dont think theres alot of manga about it because its simply not that popular outside the US. As far as it being a battlefield, eeeeh? Not really? You want a battlefield watch Rugby.

SuperMario
I can think of other cool sports that could be interesting to see in anime: Kick Volleyball (Sepak takraw), Bossaball (combined soccer, volleyball in a trampoline), or in the same vein of skate figures this season, why not pole dancing competition???

Anonymous504493
What other sport is cool and popular that remains original to write about by now? There isn't a lot of manga about it compared to anything else.

Anonymous504493
American football looks like a battlefield with a visible battleline and everything. Id like it if there wasnt so many darn commercials.

Lenlo
I mean, its a sport. Far cry from best, but its definitely a sport.

SuperMario
@Vonter: or maybe because american football IS the best sports ever?

Kaiser Eoghan
@Vonter: Most likely due to the middle section of the original anime being the most popular bit.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: Its not safe enough a film for me to properly recommend. Even to exploitation fans, they might find it too slow others would be too sensitive to it. Really una vita violenca, mamma roma, accatone, hawks and sparrows are what Pasolini is really about.

SuperMario
Now that you watched Salo, would you recommend the film to other people? I personally think it's a masterpiece but it's one of the title that I think people would break up with me if I show them this movie

SuperMario
@Kaiser: even him as a director, both Braveheart and Apocalypto don't do much to me, will see if Hacksaw Ridge going to change my mind (but I'm not to fond with war movies in general). La Notte is in my sooon-to-watch list for years, haha

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: Thats why I prefer the neo-realist/quasi-neo-realism stuff as it deals with the worse off in society. But Antonioni was the master of being able to do films about angsty well-off people, L'aventura, the passenger and La notte for example

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: Its not so much that I dislike post 50s fellini moreso I feel that his throw everything at the screen and hope what sticks method can be hit or miss.

SuperMario
While I don't really mind his later stuffs because he was masterclass, I have a pretty hard time for Paolo Sorrentino's later works. The thing is I don't care much about the high class society so everything is just ridiculously over the top and glamour and I'm tired of it.

SuperMario
I haven't watched nights of cabiria but I did watch La Strada and boy, I was sad for few days after watching it. Fellini mentioned that he was inspired to make this movie when seeing a woman pushing a cart from behind. The film really carry that sense throughout its running

SuperMario
Michael Haneke put Salo in his top 10 films. Quite understandable when you think about it. Still for me one of the movie that affected me deeply.

SuperMario
I really admire Elle for its ability to maintain its sharpness because under other inexperienced directors it could easily becomes a mess. Mel Gibson, really? He's one of the few actors that I absolutely dislike

SuperMario
@Kaiser: The Red Turtle remains one of the the most refreshing time I had this year in cinema, but then again I haven't watched much films lately. Agree with you on Sonia's performance, and I still think they could cut out the first 20' of the film because it feels out of place compare to the rest of the film

Kaiser Eoghan
Debating whether to bother catching up on I am a hero or watching the film adaptation. I haven't read it since they got rid of that one female character.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: I've a feeling you'll like nights of cabiria, Fellini was cranking out some solidly effective social-realist dramas in the 50s before he fell into self-indulgence.

Kaiser Eoghan
Now I have that sound euphonium compilation film downloaded, I should get to that sometime.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: I also finally watched Salo, I ended up meeting it pretty much halfway. Some parts still retain the ability to effect a modern viewer, having seen his other works though its crazy just how different Salo is to them.

Kaiser Eoghan
@Mario: Seeing I, daniel Blake tomorrow and rogue one in a few weeks.

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